


oh, this is love

by cherryjaem



Category: Stray Kids (Band)
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), Domestic Fluff, Established Relationship, Light Angst, M/M, Married Characters, Time Skips, a lot of skinships as well because they thrive on it, as in they kiss and makeout a lot, excessive use of the word baby and babe, rated T for implied and mild sexual content, suggestive and questionable remarks/jokes like seriously what is up with them?, they're in love and so whipped for each other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-25
Updated: 2020-09-25
Packaged: 2021-03-08 02:48:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 14,925
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26578585
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cherryjaem/pseuds/cherryjaem
Summary: Random snippets from Hyunjin and Seungmin's lives. Yes, they're married and grossly in love, and, yes, they have their bad days, too. but hey, what's life without a little obstacle along the way, right?
Relationships: Hwang Hyunjin/Kim Seungmin
Comments: 22
Kudos: 174
Collections: EQUINOX





	oh, this is love

**Author's Note:**

> 1 - Prompt #093. Special shout-out to the prompter. When I saw the prompt, I thought it was really cute and decided to write it ^^ hope it's up to your liking!
> 
> 2 - The story is set up in somewhere vague but definitely not in Korea.
> 
> 3 - First half is from Hyunjin's point of view and the other half from Seungmin's point of view.
> 
> 4 - All the scenes are random and have no connection with each other except ChangLix's bachelor parties and wedding. The orders are not chronologically correct either.
> 
> 5 - Beware of gross fluff. SeungJin really has no shame here.
> 
> 6 - Lastly, I hope you will enjoy the fic! <3

1.

Seungmin isn't clumsy per se. Between him and Seungmin, Hyunjin is clumsier and more prone to tripping on absolutely nothing but sometimes, there are moments when Seungmin is not very careful and attentive of his surroundings that causes minor incidents to himself. It's so unlike Kim Seungmin, but it happens.

Like, right now.

Hyunjin isn’t sure what exactly is Seungmin tripping on, but the next thing they both know, Seungmin is already lying face down on the floor of their living room, right in front of Hyunjin who is sitting innocently on their couch watching a drama on Netflix. It’s a good thing that they have lots of fluffy pillows on their living room floor, so Hyunjin isn’t worried all that much about the fall possibly hurting Seungmin badly.

“You okay?” Hyunjin nudges his foot on Seungmin’s butt. Hyunjin thinks he hears a muffled groan from Seungmin, but most importantly, he notices how oddly red Seungmin’s ears are. “You know, that’s a really cute way to fall for me, Kim Seungmin,” Hyunjin teases, just because he can.

“Shut up, we’re married,” Seungmin lifts his head up and narrows his eyes at Hyunjin. Just like his ears, Seungmin’s face is red with embarrassment as well. Hyunjin finds it amusing to watch, because yes, they’ve already known each other for 8 years and married for almost 2 years now, so Seungmin doesn’t have to be embarrassed about small things like this anymore, and yet…

“Still,” Hyunjin grins, lying down on his stomach and leaning his chin on his crossed arms as he looks at Seungmin still on the floor. It doesn’t seem like he’s getting up anytime soon, quite honestly. Hyunjin doesn’t know why Seungmin would want to move from there in the first place, because Hyunjin knows how comfortable it actually is lying down on those thick, fluffy pillows. After all, Seungmin was the one who put them there because no matter how many times Seungmin nags at Hyunjin to be careful, Hyunjin still has the tendency to fall down from stubbing his toe on the edge of the carpet in the living room. The pillows are supposed to cushion Hyunjin from the impact of the fall, and they have served their purpose well so far. But it's just funny how it's Seungmin who fell now. “Are you okay though?” Hyunjin asks again.

“M’fine,” Seungmin tells him, leaning his cheek on the pillow. Yup, Seungmin is definitely not moving from there.

“Your face is really red, by the way.”

_“Shut up.”_ Seungmin whines and faces away from Hyunjin.

“Aww, there’s nothing to be embarrassed about,” Hyunjin coos. Really, he doesn’t know why Seungmin is getting all embarrassed over this, but he supposes that’s Kim Seungmin for him.

“Then stop teasing me and watch your drama.”

Hyunjin snorts at this, but he does shift his attention back to the screen of the television for Seungmin’s sake. It doesn’t take long for Hyunjin to get bored though- the drama is moving too slowly for his liking, so instead of focusing on the story, Hyunjin finds his gaze trailing back down to Seungmin. The younger guy himself is watching the drama intently. His focus is both endearing and... _hot_ but then again, maybe it’s because Hyunjin is so whipped for this guy that he finds everything Seungmin does endearing (and hot).

Hyunjin belatedly realizes Seungmin is wearing his cute blue pajama pants that have printed puppies all over it, but only because Hyunjin was checking out the sliver of skin peeking out from where Seungmin’s hoodie has rode up on his back, which then turns to him checking out Seungmin’s ass that has Hyunjin grinning so widely. Without warning, Hyunjin sits up and leans down, slapping his hand on Seungmin’s butt, shouting a loud “Mine!”

“Yah!” Seungmin startles, turning his head around to stare at Hyunjin with wide, incredulous eyes. Hyunjin’s grin turns into laughter. “Hwang Hyunjin!”

“What? Am I wrong?” Hyunjin teases some more, complete with wiggling eyebrows and hand squeezing Seungmin’s butt. Seungmin tuts his tongue in disapproval but there’s a hint of a smile playing on the edges of his lips.

“Yes, you’re wrong. My butt belongs to no one but me,” Seungmin says, swatting Hyunjin’s hand away from touching him.

"Huh," Hyunjin slides down to lie down next to Seungmin, with half of his body covering Seungmin's back and hand propping his head up. "That's not what you said last night."

"What?? I didn't say anything last night!" Seungmin was quick to deny. His face gets impossibly red and Hyunjin laughs at this. It's just so easy to tease and fluster the younger guy, and Hyunjin finds it hard to stop once he starts.

"Really? Pretty sure you said-" Seungmin groans when Hyunjin shows no sign of stopping soon and pushes Hyunjin to lie on his back so he can drape himself all over the older guy. Hyunjin lets out an involuntary muffled sound from the sudden weight on him, but his arms automatically hold Seungmin in a hug.

"Stop teasing me," Seungmin mutters, nuzzling his face on Hyunjin's chest and making Hyunjin feel a sudden burst of fondness for the younger guy from this very action. Hyunjin chuckles and uses his hands to rub Seungmin's back comfortingly.

"Cuddles?" Hyunjin asks softly, even though he already knows the answer. Seungmin nods his head regardless, and snuggles closer to Hyunjin. Seungmin is not paying attention to the drama playing- heck, he's not even looking at the television anymore seeing how he's more occupied with cuddling Hyunjin currently, so Hyunjin lets him be.

Hyunjin’s hand has moved to stroke Seungmin’s hair, the younger guy sighing in content at this. Silence settles around them with voices from the television serving as background noise. Hyunjin is so comfortable in this position that he yawns several times, but he isn’t sure when exactly sleep claims him.

When Hyunjin blinks his eyes open again, the lights in the living room are dimmer now, the television is no longer on and the warmth on his body is gone. But it isn’t for long, though. He feels the blanket spread on his legs before it’s pulled up and the warmth of another body is felt leaning on his side.

“Oh,” Seungmin says, pausing in the middle of whatever he was doing. “Did I wake you up?” he asks with a soft voice, mindful of Hyunjin just waking up from slumber. “Do you want to move to the bedroom?”

“Here’s good,” Hyunjin slurs, blindly pulling Seungmin into his hug. “Sleepy.”

“Go back to sleep then,” Seungmin chuckles quietly and leans down to press a kiss on Hyunjin’s forehead. “Night, babe.”

“Goodnight,” Hyunjin flutters his eyes closed, the sleepiness heavy. He can vaguely feel Seungmin trailing kisses from Hyunjin’s forehead down his nose and lastly on his lips, where he whispers “Mine as much as I am yours.”

Hyunjin drifts off to sleep with a small smile on his face.

2.

Hyunjin doesn't usually drink; he doesn't even like alcohol that much, but for his best friend, Changbin's bachelor party, he supposes he could make an exception just for one night. He isn’t as lightweight as their friend (Jisung) is, but after his eighth glass, Hyunjin can feel himself properly buzzed. It feels good and nice and freeing to let himself loose, and there’s something satisfying about drinking on a weekday night and not having to worry about nursing a hangover the next day while still having to go to work because, again, for Changbin’s wedding, Hyunjin managed to get a few days off and fly to New York to where the wedding is to be held.

The club is still as packed and loud as when Hyunjin first entered it earlier that evening, but unlike a few hours ago, Hyunjin now manages to ignore the warmth of the place and the crowd of people, thanks to the alcohol in his system. The DJ in charge for the night is actually freaking good and the choice of music is stellar (Hyunjin thinks the DJ is called Bang Chan, flown from Sydney specifically for Changbin and Felix’s pre and post wedding parties, because of course the couple would), and although Hyunjin had not danced for a while now (not since he graduated college 4 years ago) he finds himself walking to the dancefloor, leaving behind his drunken group of friends at one of the VIP booths on the second floor.

It’s even more packed on the first floor because even though the soon-to-be-wedded couple rented the whole second floor _(yes,_ in a true ChangLix’s (couple name the group of friends came up with since they first started dating) fashion, they held their bachelor parties in the _same_ place but in different booths, and since they share the same group of friends, they picked their guests by age - older friends for Changbin and younger friends for Felix), the first floor is still open to the public, hence why there’s a lot more people down here.

The thought of him dancing alone and surrounded by strangers irks Hyunjin a little, though. He's thinking that maybe he should have brought a friend to the dance floor with him, but is lazy and reluctant to head back upstairs. Besides, the others are drunker than Hyunjin is and that would only mean he has to _drag_ them downstairs, so Hyunjin leaves the thought behind and continues making his way to the dance floor.

Now on the dance floor is where Hyunjin sees _him._

Hyunjin doesn't even know how he manages to spot _him_ almost immediately amidst the crowd of dancing people, finding himself stilling on his spot with eyes fixed on the guy dancing on the floor with 3 other guys with him. Even in the darkness of the place, Hyunjin can still see how hazy the guy's eyes are, his shoulders lax like he doesn't hold any troubles and boulders of life there, his movements easy and smooth as he sways to the music. The guy is wearing a black skinny pants and a simple silky white button-up shirt that's a tad too big on him, with 3 of the upper buttons undone, making his collarbone appear on full display. Honestly, just the sight alone takes Hyunjin's breath away and before he knows it, his legs are moving towards the guy at their own accord. He knows he needs to get closer to this guy.

One of the guy's friends sees him first, his face scrunching in disapproval at Hyunjin approaching them but Hyunjin couldn't care less about it. Hyunjin squeezes himself in the makeshift small circle the 4 guys made, his arm finding its way around the small waist of the brown-haired guy, whom he couldn't take his eyes off of since spotting him on the dance floor.

The guy tenses in Hyunjin's hold, body turning around mostly in confusion when Hyunjin guides the guy to lean his back against Hyunjin's chest but he relaxes again when Hyunjin softly nuzzles his nose on the guy's hair, whispering a low "Hey, gorgeous," into his ear.

“Oh, fancy seeing you here,” the guy says, one arm lying atop of Hyunjin’s own, and hand from his other arm slipping up to hook around the side of Hyunjin’s neck. They both ignore the 3 guys giving them a thumbs down and booing them with faces scrunched in disgust, before _they_ ignore the pair in favor of dancing amongst themselves. “What would Seungmin think if he saw us like this? You told him you weren’t gonna flirt with anyone at the party.”

“Well, it’s different now that you’re here.”

A smirk, and then the guy turns around to loop his arms around Hyunjin’s neck and pull him closer. “How so?” Up close like this, the guy smells like sandalwood with a mix of vanilla and a little bit of sweat. Hyunjin feels intoxicated and not because of the alcohol he consumed.

"What are you so hot for?" Hyunjin murmurs, lips pressing kisses on the guy's cheek and jawline and hands moving to hold the guy's hip. The silky fabric of the shirt feels soft to the touch, but it isn't as soft as the skin he makes contact with when Hyunjin's hands wander underneath the shirt. “Makes me wanna take you home with me,” he says into the guy’s ear.

The guy’s breath hitches at this, and then he’s laughing. Hyunjin feels rather than hear the guy laugh because DJ Bang decides to put on the remix version of _Miroh_ right then, gaining whoop from the crowd here and there. People start jumping up and down, throwing their hands up in the air and screaming along to the lyrics, so Hyunjin lets go of the guy and grabs his hand to pull him out of the dancefloor and head towards the more deserted part of the club, which is honestly just under the staircase that leads to the second floor. Great thing is the music is a little muffled here so they can talk and hear fairly better than when they were on the dancefloor.

“Why’d you laugh?” Hyunjin questions with a pout, crowding the guy into the wall. The guy doesn’t seem to mind. “I was serious.”

“Hwang,” the guy rolls his eyes fondly, his arms finding their way around Hyunjin’s neck again. “We _live_ together.”

“Minnieeee,” Hyunjin whines as he hugs Seungmin’s waist. “Of course I know that. But we don’t live together right now,” he says, which is true because the group of friends are separated into _Team Changbin_ and _Team Felix_ , much to Hyunjin’s dismay. Hyunjin ended up rooming with Minho at the hotel (all of which is paid for by the soon-to-be-wedded couple) and Seungmin with Jisung. Seungmin only chuckles, hands playing with Hyunjin’s hair and nose nuzzling with Hyunjin’s. Seungmin is not big on public display of affection and the fact that his lips are brushing lightly on Hyunjin’s right now, the way he presses closer to Hyunjin indicates that he probably has had too much to drink. “How much did you drink, babe?” Hyunjin wants to know, but lets Seungmin press his lips on Hyunjin’s.

“Enough,” is Seungmin’s short answer. Then he kisses Hyunjin again, harder and messier this time. Hyunjin kisses back, of course. They're always a little bolder and unbothered when they have alcohol in their system like this, but tonight, Hyunjin's not drunk nor willing enough to put on a show for everyone else to see, so he’s the first to pull away from the kiss. “Now _I_ wanna take you home with me,” Seungmin snickers breathlessly, lips finding Hyunjin’s jawline to trail kisses there and down to Hyunjin’s neck.

Hyunjin finds it’s a little hard to breathe, but actually manages a small chuckle at what Seungmin was saying. Then an idea strikes in Hyunjin’s head. He has to cup Seungmin’s cheeks with his hands to make Seungmin look at him. “Remember when Minho locked us in the closet back in college and wouldn’t let us out until we talk our problems out because we were giving each other the silent treatment for a week?” Hyunjin recalls fondly. They were so young, stupid and petty back then (can’t promise they aren’t anymore these days, but they try to be mature most of the time), and when Hyunjin remembers this particular memory, it’s funny more than anything.

“Yeah? What about it?” Seungmin licks his lips and then smiles in confusion, unsure why Hyunjin is bringing this up here out of all places.

“Come with me?’ Hyunjin grins as he fishes out his and Minho’s hotel room keycard from his back pocket. “Minho didn’t bring his because it’s a nuisance apparently.”

The smile stretches into a cheeky grin on Seungmin’s face when he finally understands Hyunjin’s plan of locking Minho out of the room. “Payback time?” 

“Payback time,” Hyunjin affirms with the nod of his head. He’s rewarded with Seungmin’s hearty laughter. Hyunjin could listen and watch Seungmin all day and all night, but they have a more important thing to do right now.

“You amaze me,” Seungmin says. Perhaps it is a petty revenge, but also beneficial to both Seungmin and Hyunjin, and it’s all that matters at the moment honestly.

When Hyunjin holds his hand out and Seungmin takes it without hesitation, when he follows Hyunjin out of the club and laughs while they make fun of Minho together, Hyunjin is glad he has someone he can do childish, foolish things with.

He’s glad it’s Kim Seungmin.

3.

It’s alarming that Seungmin has not been returning Hyunjin's calls and texts for the past few hours.

The younger guy had called in sick that morning because he wasn't feeling very well. Hyunjin had been worried, but Seungmin assured Hyunjin that he would be fine after resting for the day so Hyunjin had left for work, with a promise to check up on Seungmin from time to time. With a small smile, Seungmin assured Hyunjin again that he would try to reply the best he could, and then sent Hyunjin off with a hug and a kiss.

Morning had been fine. As promised, Hyunjin checked up on Seungmin in between doing his work as much as he could, and Seungmin mostly replied to him every time. His response varied from replying quickly, to a few minutes after Hyunjin sent his text and at most, a little over an hour. Hyunjin didn't mind any of this. He had expected Seungmin to fall back to sleep and that his replies would be understandably few, but Seungmin told Hyunjin he couldn’t sleep so he’d been watching television and doing light house chores, hence why he was always able to reply Hyunjin’s text.

A little past 1 in the afternoon, though, Seungmin had stopped replying completely. _Get a good rest <3 love you, _ Hyunjin texts, thinking Seungmin probably has finally fallen asleep. _I’ll see you when I get back._

Checking his phone during bathroom break, Hyunjin realizes Seungmin never replies back to him, never even read the texts Hyunjin sent to him. The clock shows it's almost 4pm now. The reasonable part of him convinces that Seungmin is probably still asleep, but the worried part of him over thinks the worst situation. What if something happened to Seungmin? What if his sickness worsened? It doesn't help that Hyunjin feels very uneasy, like something bad is lurking around the corner.

Hyunjin presses the call button and waits for it to be picked up. He bites his nail in a nervous habit, his eyes glancing at the clock on the bottom corner of his computer. There's still 2 hours more to go before work is over, and the call is still not connected to Seungmin's.

Hyunjin reluctantly ends the call and opens his chat with Seungmin again.

_Babe_

_If you see this, can you reply to me?_

_With anything_

_Sorry. I'm just worried_

_I hope you're just sleeping_

Hyunjin stares at the unopened and unread texts. The clock says it's only 5 after 4pm. Fuck. Time seems to slow down with the speed of a snail once Hyunjin is conscious about it now.

"Hey," Lia, his deskmate, calls from beside him. "Everything ok?"

"Yeah," Hyunjin stares at the phone one last time before locking it and depositing it on the table. He shifts his gaze back to his desktop with the intention of continuing his work, but his mind is filled with worry for Seungmin instead. "I mean. No? I don't know."

"Is it Seungmin?" Lia inquires. "Is he still not replying?"

"Yeah," Hyunjin mumbles.

"He's probably very tired and taking a long nap. You said he wasn't feeling well, right?"

"Yeah," Hyunjin mumbles again, eyes unfocused before they find Lia's concerned ones. "What if he needs me, Lia? But too sick to reach me."

"Hyunjin, I'm sure he's fine," Lia tries to calm him. "But if it makes you feel better to go home and check on him right now, you know you can just ask Mr. Park to let you out early, right?"

"You're right," Hyunjin agrees after contemplating for a bit. Their manager would listen to him and understand if Hyunjin explains to him because he isn't as cold and heartless as he looks.

"Then go ask him," Lia smiles. "Just ditch your work for now. It'll still be here tomorrow. Will always be here because work is never-ending, actually. How annoying is that?" she rolls her eyes playfully. At this, Hyunjin feels his nerves dissippating a little, but it comes back to him full force when he stands next to Mr. Park's desk.

"Yes, Hwang?" Mr. Park asks without tearing his gaze away from the computer screen, fingers tapping away on the keyboard.

"Mr. Park," Hyunjin starts. "Can I be excused from work early today?"

"Why?" Mr. Park stops typing to look up at Hyunjin with a raised eyebrow. "It's less than 2 hours until work is done for the day, though. Whatever it is, can't it wait?"

Hyunjin shakes his head in determination. He doesn't want to make Seungmin wait– not _if_ Seungmin needs him. "It's my husband, sir," Hyunjin presses his lips into a thin line. "He's not feeling well and he's alone at home. I want to take care of him."

Mr. Park's gaze visibly softens at this. "Is he ok?"

"That's...what I want to know," Hyunjin admits. "He's not replying to my texts anymore, and doesn't answer my calls. I'm getting worried."

"I see," Mr. Park says. "Very well then," he then decides. "You may go home now, but tomorrow morning I want to discuss with you the report you submitted earlier."

"Understood. And thank you, sir," Hyunjin bows in thanks and respect, but also as a goodbye greet, before walking back to his table to grab his things, save his work and switch off the computer.

"Tell Seungmin I said hi," Lia says. "And get well soon."

"I will," Hyunjin gives a small smile. "Thanks, Lia."

~*~

The house is strangely quiet when Hyunjin arrives. Nothing out of the ordinary though; the house looks exactly like it was this morning before Hyunjin left, except Seungmin is nowhere to be found in the living room nor the kitchen area. "Minnie?" Hyunjin calls out, taking his blazer off and putting it on the dining table chair along with his bag. Then his eyes see Seungmin's phone on the table, and he frowns as he picks it up. There's a lot of notification from Hyunjin, which means Seungmin probably has not touched nor seen his phone after his last text to Hyunjin. Hyunjin puts the phone back on the table and hurries down the hallway to their bedroom, his hand unfastening the tie around his neck as he feels the worry and anxiety creeping up.

With the blackout curtains pulled closed, the bedroom is enveloped in darkness, making Hyunjin still at the door frame as his eyes search the room. The bed is unmade and messy but it's also empty with no signs of Seungmin on it. "Minnie?" Hyunjin calls again, voice soft but laced with urgency as well from how worried he is. Hyunjin strides inside, heading for the curtains to pull it open to get a little light in the room. That's when he hears the quiet noise coming from the bed that makes Hyunjin turn around immediately. There sitting on the floor next to the bed is Seungmin.

He's wearing one of Hyunjin's hoodies– Seungmin's favorite one to be precise. It's oddly big on the younger guy, and the sight of Seungmin in his oversized hoodie would always make Hyunjin coo, but at that moment he can't focus on that at all– not when he sees Seungmin's condition. There are dried trails of tears on his cheeks, his hair messy and a faraway look on his face. His gaze is unseeing, like his mind is somewhere else instead of with his physical body in that room.

"Oh no," Hyunjin mutters to himself, feeling his heart drop to the pit of his stomach. He knows _that_ look all too well. When Seungmin said he wasn't feeling well that morning, Hyunjin should have known, should have stayed with him instead of leaving him alone. "Minnie, baby?" he carefully approaches the younger guy and kneels down to reach for his hand. "Seungmin, can you hear me?" There's no response from Seungmin. He doesn't even react when Hyunjin squeezes Seungmin's hand in his. Hyunjin doesn’t know how deep Seungmin’s spiraled down, but that can't be a good sign.

Hyunjin tells himself to calm down; there's no use panicking. Right now, Seungmin needs him more than anything and Hyunjin knows that. With this thought in mind, Hyunjin takes a deep breath in and out and then moves even closer to gently cup his hands on Seungmin's face. "Baby, look at me," he says. It's taking a while for Seungmin to respond, but Hyunjin is a patient man willing to wait no matter how much time it takes.

When Seungmin’s eyes finally meet with Hyunjin’s, they hold so many things in them and yet nothing all at once. He seems so distant, making Hyunjin’s guts twist uncomfortably. Seungmin’s mind tends to shut down when things get too much, when he’s too stressed and while this may seem good that he isn’t thinking of anything at all, it’s actually bad for Seungmin because he blocks _everything_ out and becomes unresponsive. 

This doesn’t happen often. Seungmin is after all a guy who is mentally strong. But there’s no telling when the inner demon would come haunting him and absorbing all the positivity, throwing Seungmin into the darkness and putting him into this state. Seungmin is a human, too, and even someone like him has his own dark times, too. This _doesn’t_ happen often, but when it does, Seungmin falls hard and deep, and it’s difficult to pull him back, but-

But Hyunjin is a patient man, even more so when it comes to Seungmin and dealing with his demons. This is what Hyunjin would always say to Seungmin, and he would never get tired of reminding him this. So Hyunjin takes another deep breath in and out, smiles at Seungmin and combs his fingers through Seungmin’s messy hair.

“I’m here,” Hyunjin announces, taking a proper sit on the floor. “I’ve got you. We’ll go through this together, ok? Come here,” he says when Seungmin only blinks at him. Hyunjin pulls Seungmin to sit in front of him and attaches his chest to Seungmin’s back, making sure Seungmin is as comfortable as he can get on the floor. “It’ll be alright. I’m here for you.”

When Seungmin ‘wakes up’ later, there’s a lot of things they need to talk about- what causes this, what’s been going on in Seungmin’s mind lately. Hyunjin can already tell it will be an uncomfortable talk for Seungmin, but it has to be done so Seungmin doesn’t slip again. Later, Hyunjin will have to remind Seungmin again that he isn’t alone, and that no problem or worry of his is trivial enough for him to keep it to himself. Later, Hyunjin will need to assure Seungmin that he loves the younger guy no matter what but for now, Hyunjin will hold Seungmin safely in his arms, whisper loving words into his ears and press soft kisses on his face as he tries to slowly pull Seungmin out of his state.

Hyunjin doesn't know how long they stayed like that but he can tell the exact moment Seungmin regains his consciousness. It starts with the shake of his hands and a sharp gasp, before his body trembles and he begins to cry, so Hyunjin holds him tighter. Hyunjin knows that as much as Seungmin hates being stressed, he hates blacking out even more, hates when he loses control over his mind and body. "It's ok," Hyunjin gently tells Seungmin, nuzzling his face on the crook of Seungmin's neck. "You're ok."

Hyunjin feels Seungmin grabbing Hyunjin's hands and holding them tight in his. "Hyun-Hyunjin?" Seungmin asks, confused and yet relieved at the same time. Hyunjin is glad that at least Seungmin seems to be awake enough to move and talk now.

"Yes. I'm here."

Somehow, that only triggers more tears for the younger guy.

"I-I'm sorry," Seungmin stutters wetly. "I d-don't know how it h-happened. I was t-trying to make the b-bed and then- then-"

"Shhh, it's ok," Hyunjin assures. "I'm not mad. You don't have to be sorry. It happens."

"But _I'm_ mad! This...this shouldn't have happened anymore!"

"I know you're angry, baby. I know it's frustrating for you that this happened again. But in the future, we can lessen it, or even prevent it from happening ever again, yeah? To do that, you need to _talk_ to me, ok? We'll figure it out together."

At this, Seungmin curls in on himself but Hyunjin refuses to let go. “I’m sorry,” Seungmin whimpers. “I didn’t mean to…”

“It’s ok. I promise it’s ok. How are you feeling?”

“Horrible,” Seungmin admits.

“We can talk about this again later if you’d prefer that.” Hyunjin receives a nod from Seungmin. “What can I do to make you feel better?” Hyunjin rubs a comforting hand on Seungmin’s back. “Do you want to eat?”

“No,” Seungmin shakes his head. “I’m not hungry.”

“Did you eat anything today?” When Hyunjin doesn’t get a reply from Seungmin, he already knows what the answer is.

“I’m not hungry,” Seungmin repeats, his voice quieter but tinged with a little bit of guilt in it.

“Are you sure? I can make your favorite _kimchi-jeon,”_ Hyunjin tries. Seungmin contemplates the offer, teeth biting his lower lips. The growl of Seungmin’s stomach answers it for him though, and Seungmin hides his face in embarrassment as Hyunjin lets out a laugh. “See, your stomach is hungry.”

“I guess _kimchi-jeon_ does sound good right now…”

“Then I can make you some, yeah?” Hyunjin presses a loving kiss on Seungmin’s temple, and he feels the younger guy relaxing in his arms. “And then we can do whatever you want.”

“Can we cuddle after?” Seungmin asks in a tiny voice. “And would you read me something later?”

“Of course,” Hyunjin is more than glad to agree immediately, understanding Seungmin’s sudden clinginess and the need to touch and feel Hyunjin, and hear Hyunjin’s voice. “Right now, I need to get up and change into something more comfortable first. And then I’ll make the _kimchi-jeon,_ and after we’re done eating, we’ll cuddle and I’ll read you one of your favorite books. ”

“The Book of Us: Gravity?”

Hyunjin actually snorts at this but indulges him. “Yeah, sure. I’ll read all the lyrics for you and their ‘thanks to’ if that’s what you want. _Anything_ you want, I’ll give. How does that sound?”

There’s a ghost of a smile on Seungmin’s lips as he wipes his face with the sleeve of the hoodie. “That sounds amazing, actually. Thank you,” Seungmin turns around a little to hug Hyunjin from the side, and Hyunjin accommodates Seungmin the best he can, hooking his chin on the top of Seungmin’s head.

“You don’t have to thank me,” Hyunjin says. “I’ll always be here for you, you know that, right? I want to take care of you, too.”

“I know,” Seungmin whispers. “Thank you for being here. I know loving me is not always easy.”

"Loving me is not always easy either, babe. But everything is worth it. There's nowhere and no one else I'd rather be with."

Seungmin lifts his head up a little to press a kiss on the corner of Hyunjin's lips. "Thank you," he says, eyes sparkling with unshed tears. 

"Promise me you'll tell me what's wrong later on," Hyunjin says. When Seungmin avoids his gaze, Hyunjin adds: "Not _now,_ but later." Seungmin gives a reluctant nod. "Words, babe. I need you to promise it with words," Hyunjin smiles and gently rubs his thumb on Seungmin's lips.

"...I promise."

"Good," Hyunjin's smile widens into a grin, happy at the thought of Seungmin trying to open up to him. "You missed your aim, by the way." Before Seungmin could ask what he meant, Hyunjin pecks Seungmin's lips with his. It's worth it, though, because Hyunjin receives a smile from Seungmin in return.

“Let me try again then,” Seungmin straightens up, hands on Hyunjin’s shoulders. He tilts his head a little and then presses a kiss directly on Hyunjin’s lips this time. It’s short and soft, and when Seungmin pulls away, Hyunjin flutters his eyes open to lock his gaze with Seungmin’s. There’s a lingering sadness and worry in them but Hyunjin is glad they’re more alive than the empty gaze he was met with before.

Seungmin's hands come to rest on Hyunjin's chest, his breathing calm and slow, gaze drifting down to Hyunjin's lips so Hyunjin doesn't waste anymore time and closes the gap between them again. It's just lips pressing on lips for a few brief seconds before Hyunjin presses a series of smooches on Seungmin's lips just to make him smile (and he does smile– even _giggled)._ Hyunjin can't help but smile too, and then he captures Seungmin's lips into a proper kiss, their eyelids fluttering close.

The kiss is soft and languid, enough to make Seungmin melt in Hyunjin's arms. Hyunjin only presses him closer until he feels Seungmin's arms around his neck. Eventually, they will have to part so Hyunjin can make and feed Seungmin food. Eventually, Seungmin will have to tell Hyunjin what's wrong, but for now they're content to forget everything else around them, to feel like they're the only ones that matter at that moment.

4.

"It's Jeongin!" Hyunjin screams into the mic, fingers clicking in panic as he tries to run away from Jeongin's character in the game. He gets caught anyway and it's just his bad luck that the others are nowhere to be found. "Guys help!"

_"Where are you??"_ Felix says.

"Third floor in the secret room!" Hyunjin knows it's a hopeless attempt but only really stops trying when his screen goes dark before the game shifts to third person point of view as his character dies and he's now watching the remaining survivors struggle to find keys to escape the house. "Damn," Hyunjin slumps back on his chair, admitting defeat.

Only then he realizes Seungmin is standing next to his chair, hands on his hips and one eyebrow raised. Hyunjin jumps slightly, hand dramatically pressed on his chest after sliding off his headphones to hang around his neck. "Baby, you scared me!"

"What did I say about playing games _right before_ din-" Seungmin starts, but pauses midway with a gasp, eyebrows now frowning in concern. Hyunjin looks up in confusion when he feels Seungmin cupping his cheeks, tilting Hyunjin's face up and gently turning it to the side to inspect something. "How'd you get this?"

"Huh? Get what? This handsome face?"

"No, you idiot," Seungmin pinches Hyunjin's nose and then rubs his thumb on Hyunjin's left cheek. "This scratch on your face."

"Scratch?" Hyunjin blinks and then turns to get his phone on the table. He uses the front camera to see the image reflection of his face, and sure enough, there’s a scratch on Hyunjin’s cheek. It’s so tiny but noticeable because of the dried blood on it. “Oh, this,” Hyunjin inspects one last time before putting his phone away. “Must have accidentally scratched it while playing the game just now.”

_“Yo Hyunjin, are you joining the next round or what?”_ Jisung’s loud voice can be heard from the headphone.

_“Yeah! Hurry and pick your character!”_ Jeongin chimes in.

“No, he is _not_ playing anymore rounds,” Seungmin bends down to speak into the mic before Hyunjin could answer them himself. “Bye!” he says, closing the game and cutting the connection altogether.

"But I wanted to play some more," Hyunjin pouts, but lets Seungmin take the headphones off of him.

"Absolutely not," Seungmin deadpans. "Unless you want that for your dinner then be my guest."

"Noooo," Hyunjin quickly hugs Seungmin and presses his face on Seungmin's stomach. "I want real food."

"That's what I thought," Seungmin chuckles, petting Hyunjin's head a few times before uncurling Hyunjin's arms around his waist and grabbing his hands to inspect them. He clicks his tongue and shakes his head in disapproval when he sees the state of Hyunjin's nails.

"What?" Hyunjin asks sheepishly.

"Keep your nails short, please, Mr. Hwang."

"They're not even _that_ long!" Hyunjin whines, trying for cutesy actions to get away from Seungmin's lecture. It usually works wonders sometimes, but tonight is not one of those times. Seungmin is smarter and knows better than that. They have lived with each other for so long, and have known each other for even much, much longer– long enough for both of them to learn what works and what doesn't, to know how to get one another to listen and do what they're supposed to do.

For Hyunjin, you have to get on the same level with him and Seungmin _knows_ this.

"But they're long and sharp enough to give you cuts if you aren't careful enough," Seungmin whines back. Hyunjin knows Seungmin will not hesitate to use this against him sometimes, but every time it happens feels like the first time experiencing it and Hyunjin can't help from feeling flustered seeing this side of Seungmin. "If Jinnie gets hurt, Minnie will be sad. Does Jinnie know how much Minnie's heart hurt when Jinnie is hurt?"

Oh no. He's even speaking in third person. Paired with that pout and puppy eyes? Hyunjin is done for.

"O-ok," Hyunjin stutters, looking away as he feels the blush creeping up his face. "I'll keep them short…"

Seungmin's laughter that follows is loud, triumphant and borderline amused. "Get up," he pulls Hyunjin up from the chair without much effort. "I'll cut them for you."

That's how Hyunjin finds himself sitting in the kitchen, longingly eyeing their dinner (consisting of carbonara) in the pan as Seungmin clips Hyunjin's nails short. Smelling the delicious aroma, Hyunjin realizes how hungry he is and can't believe he was going to let dinner wait in favor of playing another round of Secret Neighbor with his friends. "I didn't know you were making carbonara."

Seungmin acknowledges with a hum. "I'm a little lazy today and carbonara is the easiest to make, so," he shrugs. Hyunjin shifts his gaze to look at Seungmin and smiles at the sight of the younger guy. He's wearing his glasses, eyebrows furrowed in concentration. Seungmin isn't aware of this but he tends to pout his lips when he's in a deep concentration like this and Hyunjin finds it so, _so_ adorable. Hyunjin could lean forward and kiss Seungmin, but his fingers are at stake so he'd rather not Seungmin accidentally cut his nails too short for catching the younger guy off guard.

"Your carbonara is the best though," Hyunjin says. Honestly, they were both bad cooks but over the years, they learned to get better at it, especially Seungmin. Seungmin even took cooking classes with Felix back when he was just married to Hyunjin, and now homemade foods by Seungmin are Hyunjin's favorite.

"You know what else is best?" Seungmin asks as he files Hyunjin's nails, smirking as he does so. "My stir-fry broccoli with oyster sauce."

Correction: homemade foods by Seungmin are Hyunjin's favorite _except_ anything to do with vegetables. Never the vegetables.

The smile on Hyunjin's face falls immediately and is replaced with disgust, making Seungmin burst out laughing out loud. "Please tell me you didn't make _that."_

_"Fortunately_ I _did,"_ Seungmin grins. He puts the nail clipper away after he's done and stands up to get the two small bowls on the kitchen counter. He picks them up and places them on the table before moving around to grab plates for their main dinner dish. To Hyunjin's horror, the bowls are filled with said stir-fried broccoli and he looks at it in disgust. _Eww, veggies._

Hyunjin pokes the broccoli with a fork and sighs, wondering how he's going to finish them all. He's not even sure he could finish _half_ of it.

"Eat your veggies, Hwang," Seungmin says as he reheats the carbonara on the stove.

"I don't want veggies. I don't _need_ them," Hyunjin protests, pushing the bowl further away from him.

"Well, you can bid this carbonara goodbye then."

Hyunjin widens his eyes in disbelief. Although he doubts Seungmin won't let him eat the carbonara, Hyunjin doesn't want to risk it. "Fine," Hyunjin grumbles, grudgingly forks the broccoli and puts it in his mouth, but otherwise does not bite on it. Seungmin watches him, one eyebrow raised as if asking him to munch on the broccoli _and_ swallow it. Hyunjin takes one hesitant bite, grimaces, and then bites it over and over so he can get rid of it quickly from his mouth. "Ewww," is what Hyunjin says after swallowing.

"Good boy," Seungmin grins, passing Hyunjin a glass of cranberry juice and Hyunjin immediately takes quick gulps of it.

"That was disgusting," Hyunjin tells Seungmin. With Seungmin's back on him, Hyunjin contemplates whether it's possible to dump all of the contents of his bowl into Seungmin's, and if there's enough time to do this but Seungmin is quick to shut the thought down by saying: "Don't do it."

"I wasn't going to do anything!"

"But you were thinking about it," Seungmin sing-songs, putting the carbonara into the plates. Hyunjin notices there's more portion in one plate than the other, and how Seungmin gives it to Hyunjin instead of taking it for himself. Perhaps Hyunjin's heart flutters at this small gesture. Seungmin is always so caring and sweet to him in his own little ways.

Seungmin takes a seat and starts digging into their food. Unlike Hyunjin, Seungmin eats the broccoli perfectly fine. Ughh that veggie lover. "Honestly, babe, it's just a small bowl. I know you can finish them all."

"Ok," Hyunjin relents with a sigh, and just because he can, he adds _"Daddy."_

Seungmin stops chewing and narrows his eyes at Hyunjin. Threateningly pointing his fork at Hyunjin, he says: "If you call me that again one more time, I'm filing a divorce."

Hyunjin refrains himself from grinning when he finds the perfect opportunity to tease Seungmin. He gasps dramatically instead, shaking his head a no and making the saddest face he could muster. "Daddy, no."

The effect is instant: Seungmin reaches out to touch the side of Hyunjin's neck and his nape because Hyunjin is ticklish there (he's ticklish _everywhere),_ making Hyunjin scream at this as he immediately traps Seungmin's hand in between his shoulder and face.

Needless to say, Hyunjin's bowl is empty by the end of their dinner. Hyunjin doesn't complain only because Seungmin rewarded him with a kiss with every broccoli successfully eaten.

5.

The mood in the hall has changed when Hyunjin gets back from the restroom.

The lights are dimmer now, music shifted to slow songs and guests can be seen slow dancing on the dancefloor, with the newly wedded couple taking the middle spot. Hyunjin spots Seungmin sitting in the same place he left Seungmin before excusing himself to the restroom about 5 minutes ago. There’s a sparkle in Seungmin’s eyes as he takes in the venue of the wedding, and then at Changbin and Felix dancing with the rest of their friends and loved ones.

Hyunjin approaches Seungmin, bows down a little and offers his hand to Seungmin. “May I have this dance?”

Seungmin doesn’t answer with words, but he does offer a brilliant smile at Hyunjin as he lays his hand on Hyunjin’s. Together hand in hand, they walk to the dancefloor and take their position. Hyunjin has his hands on Seungmin’s hips and Seungmin has his arms around Hyunjin’s neck as they sway along to the music, played by a live band.

“It’s a beautiful wedding,” Hyunjin comments, eyes wandering to the decorations around them.

“It’s a _grand_ wedding,” Seungmin chuckles. “It’s so ChangLix,” he adds with a fond smile. Hyunjin has to agree on this. It's very Felix to go all out on their wedding, and very Changbin to splurge on their events. Every little detail was meticulously thought of that left not only Hyunjin, but all of their friends impressed.

Attending weddings has never failed to remind Hyunjin of _their_ wedding, and this time is no exception. It's been a little over 3 years since Hyunjin and Seungmin officially became husbands, and yet on some days, it's easy to feel the wedding was just yesterday. When Hyunjin thinks back to that moment, he can _feel_ the excitement, nerves and overwhelming happiness he felt on that day. He hopes he never stops feeling that way.

"Sorry I couldn't give you a grand wedding," Hyunjin says, with only a little bit of regret because he _knows_ a grand wedding is not what Seungmin wanted for himself, but it doesn't mean Hyunjin can't wish he provided Seungmin with so much more than he deserves.

"Hush," Seungmin shushes with the roll of his eyes. "Our wedding was perfect," he assures and gives a peck on Hyunjin's lips. Both their wedding ceremony and reception were held at the (spacious) backyard of where Seungmin's family resides, only attended by family members and (very) close friends. All of the decorations were done by their siblings and best friends, food cooked by the parents and the ceremony itself was a small and intimate one filled with joy and laughter and a bit of tears. "Even with the minor ' _mishaps'_ here and there."

Hyunjin has to laugh, because it's nothing but the truth. One of the 'mishaps' Hyunjin still remembers fondly is of Jisung misplacing the ring. It had caused a little panic but fortunately short lived as Jisung realized the box was in Minho's pocket all along. The story on how it ended there was funnier, enough to make another laughter bubble up.

"The ring was in Minho's pocket," Hyunjin recalls in between laughter. "Because he–"

"–was nervous for you so he made out with Minho to calm down," Seungmin continues for him, and they both burst out laughing at the memory and the absurdity of it all.

"And somehow the ring ended up in Minho's pocket in the midst of all... _that."_

"Ok enough," Seungmin tries to stifle his laughter. "Minho is glaring at us suspiciously from the other end of the dancefloor."

Hyunjin snorts at this. "He knows when we're making fun of them."

"We're _always_ making fun of them."

"Exactly. Hence why he's always glaring at us."

They giggle quietly to themselves and then silently stare at each other with a matching smile on their faces. "I wanted to give you more, to give you something even better," Hyunjin explains softly.

"I know," Seungmin smiles. "But it would have been impossible because you were already giving me the best of the best." At this, Hyunjin moves his arms to hug Seungmin's waist, pulling him closer. "Our wedding was perfect in its own way, babe. It was so us and I loved it very much. I wouldn't have done it differently, wouldn't have traded it for the world."

"You're right. When you put it that way, the wedding was very much us," Hyunjin sighs happily.

"I am always right."

"Of course you are," Hyunjin humors the younger guy, closing his eyes and resting his forehead on Seungmin's. He feels so lucky, happy and content to be with Seungmin. He's glad Seungmin had said yes when he asked the younger guy to marry him. He couldn't even remember what it was like before they became each other's husband. 

There's something magical about weddings that unite not only the lovers but their family and friends as well. Weddings make Hyunjin feel a little emotional and nostalgic, but in a good way.

"I love you," Hyunjin whispers, just loud enough for Seungmin to catch it.

"I love you, too," Seungmin says, almost cooing.

"Way to steal the spotlight, lovebirds," Hyunjin hears Felix says, but he says it lightly and teasingly with mirth in his tone. Hyunjin leans away to look at Changbin and Felix briefly. Hyunjin doesn't even notice the newly wedded couple had danced closer to where they currently are because Hyunjin's focus had been on Seungmin the whole time to even care about anything else. It always has been and always will be on Seungmin.

Hyunjin looks at Seungmin lovingly as Seungmin says something back to Felix, lightly bickering with the couple while still dancing with Hyunjin. When Seungmin laughs prettily over something Changbin says, Hyunjin falls in love all over again.

Hyunjin gently holds Seungmin's chin to make Seungmin look at him. He smiles at Seungmin blinking questioningly and then dives down to press his lips on Seungmin's.

"Baby, we can't lose!" Hyunjin hears Changbin say, followed by sudden cheers from the people around them. Hyunjin couldn't care less about what's happening, not when Seungmin smiles against his lips and they share a sweet kiss on that dance floor.

Yup. Hyunjin is very content with where he is in life right now and with who, and he's definitely very much in love with Kim Seungmin, his other half.

~*~*~

1.

It's still dark outside when Seungmin wakes up. The clock on his nightstand states it's a little past 6 in the morning. Seungmin tries to go back to sleep but it's to no avail and he quickly accepts that today is just one of those Sundays. Although Seungmin and Hyunjin like to sleep in on weekends– on Sundays to be precise, sometimes Seungmin wakes up early without being prompted to and can never go back to sleep no matter how much he wants to.

The lingering sleepiness fogging his mind slowly clears out. Seungmin allows his body to take its time to gain function properly and waits for the rest of his senses to wake up. When all is clear, Seungmin just lay there unmoving, blinking at nothing in particular and taking in the quietness of the room. It's so peaceful that Seungmin feels reluctant to move, almost afraid that his actions would break the tranquility of the moment. He still moves, though, turning around on his other side to look at Hyunjin sleeping next to him.

Seungmin presses the side of his face onto his fluffy pillow to stare at Hyunjin, who has his back to Seungmin. Seungmin watches the way Hyunjin takes steady breaths, watches the hem of the blanket settled on Hyunjin's waist revealing his naked back. His gaze trails on the straightness of Hyunjin's spine and he can't help but reach his hand out to trace it with his finger.

He does it slowly and carefully, and repeats the action several more times because he has all the time in the world. Hyunjin's skin feels smooth underneath his fingertip and Seungmin smiles when a (probably) ticklish touch makes Hyunjin flinch a little in his sleep.

Seungmin moves closer to lay his head on Hyunjin's pillow and already, he can feel the warmth of Hyunjin's body close to his. He pulls the blanket to cover them both because it's cold in the morning after all and he doesn't want either of them to get sick.

From this close proximity, Seungmin can _feel_ the rise and fall of Hyunjin's chest when he breathes in and out. "Hyunjinnie, wake up," Seungmin says, voice barely above a whisper because he doesn't really want to wake Hyunjin up. Not this early anyway, not when Hyunjin can sleep some more to catch up on the rest he needs.

Seungmin sighs in content, softly pressing his lips on Hyunjin's nape and letting them linger there as he breathes in Hyunjin's scent. He hums quietly, hand finding Hyunjin's under the blanket and eyes looking at the spaces between the curtains. It's dark outside, but the sun is slowly rising up from the horizon. In a while, Seungmin knows the sunlight will creep in from the very same spaces in between the curtains but for now, Seungmin chooses to bask in the peaceful moment.

Hyunjin begins to stir awake just as the sun rises up in the sky. Seungmin lifts his head up to look at Hyunjin and sees the older guy blinking his eyes as if to get rid of the sleepiness and to make out where he currently is. Seungmin smiles at the cute sight and drops his head back on the pillow. "Good morning," Seungmin greets softly, pressing kisses on Hyunjin's shoulder. Hyunjin only reacts when Seungmin says "I missed you."

Hyunjin chuckles and stretches before turning around to face Seungmin with a dopey smile on his face. "Yeah?" he asks. Seungmin nods his head. "How long have you been awake?" he asks again.

"A little while."

Hyunjin hums in acknowledgement but his eyelids are beginning to flutter close again. "It's still so early. Let's go back to sleep, ok?" he suggests.

Seungmin doesn't know if he can fall back to sleep again but he agrees anyway. "Ok," Seungmin moves to fit his face on Hyunjin's neck, with his arm around Hyunjin's waist. Hyunjin lets him. Hyunjin presses a kiss on the top of Seungmin's head and then uses his hand to rub on Seungmin's back. Seungmin relaxes immediately and feels the sleepiness comes back to him.

It turns out Seungmin can still go back to sleep after all, in Hyunjin's arms like this, with Hyunjin humming to a song, protective hand on Seungmin's back, and their legs tangled together under the blanket. After all, it's the most comfortable and safest place in the world for Seungmin.

2.

After hours of driving on the road, they finally reach Hyunjin's childhood home.

It’s one of his childhood homes, actually. Hyunjin’s parents split when he was 8 so he has two homes. Ever since then, Hyunjin had spent every other weekend at his mom’s house, and then his dad’s. It continued like this until Hyunjin was 15, and then he started living in a dormitory, and eventually on his own.

Seungmin had only been here a handful of times before for holidays and family events, but has never really spent the night at the place because Hyunjin is a lot closer to his mom than to his dad, so naturally, they spend more time with Hyunjin's mom's side of the family and prefer to stay at her house more. Now that Hyunjin's twin sister is getting married, relatives from out of town come to gather at Hyunjin's mom's house, leaving no room for Seungmin and Hyunjin to stay. Hyunjin's dad offered for them to stay at his place for the week, which is how they ended up here at Hyunjin's dad's two-storey house.

"Make yourself at home," he tells them. "Your stepmom went to the market to get some stuff but she will be back in a bit. She's so excited to have you kids back home," he adds with a smile. Unlike Hyunjin's mom, Hyunjin's dad ended up remarrying 3 years after the divorce. They don't have children together but the wife has 2 kids from her first marriage so apparently it was always loud and full whenever Hyunjin and his sister would stay over as young teenagers. Now that almost all the kids have families of their own and are living in different places, the house is a lot quieter.

"Thank you for having us," Seungmin says politely.

"You guys are always welcome here," Hyunjin's dad assures. "Hyunjin, why don't you show Seungmin where the bedroom is and rest for a bit before we head over to your mom's later?"

"Sounds good," Hyunjin gets up from the couch and stretches his body. "Yeah, a nap sounds _really_ good right now."

"Off you go then!"

Hyunjin abandons their suitcase as soon as they enter the room they'll be staying at for the week, rushing to the bed and plopping down on the (surprisingly) fluffy mattress.

"Wow, would you look at this?" Hyunjin says, lying down on his side and propping his head up with his palm as he throws a flirty smirk at Seungmin. "Only one single bed. I guess we're sharing then. Why don't you come here and lie down and see if we'll fit?"

Seungmin rolls his eyes but moves to put their suitcase out of the way and closes the door behind him. "I don't need to lie down to know we can't fit. I can _see_ it perfectly fine from here," Seungmin says.

"Ok, maybe it was just an excuse to make you lie down here and cuddle with me after that long drive home. Won't you cuddle with me, baby?" Hyunjin pouts and gives Seungmin his best puppy eyes, but joke's on him because Seungmin _will not_ be swayed that easily, nope. It's hard, but Seungmin manages to cross his arms on his chest and raises an eyebrow up at Hyunjin instead of caving in immediately.

"No. I'm going to take a shower and then go downstairs to see if your parents need help in anything. You can rest and take a nap for a few hours, though. I'll wake you up for dinner later."

"What?" Hyunjin sits up. "No. I don't want to nap without you. I'll just go with you then."

"What?"

"I'll shower with you!" Hyunjin decides and with a suggestive grin, adds: "I wanna take a shower with you."

Seungmin blinks dumbly at Hyunjin. He can feel how warm his neck and face are now. "Hyunjin, we're at your childhood home with your family present in the same space."

"Ok. And?"

_"And,"_ Seungmin sputters in disbelief. "And it's embarrassing if they find out."

"Why would it be embarrassing though?" The grin on Hyunjin's face stretches into an amused smirk. "It's not like we're doing anything funny in there. We're just taking a shower. Right?"

"Shut up. You were implying it!" Seungmin accuses with his face red from embarrassment but it only makes Hyunjin burst out laughing out loud.

"Imply _what_ exactly, babe?"

“Shut up,” Seungmin huffs, laying down the suitcase and zipping it open to get their bathroom essentials out. _“I’m_ taking a shower and _you_ will stay right where you are.”

“You know, this room might be small but I’ll have you know the bathroom is big,” Hyunjin continues on. “Like, big enough for me to kneel down and-”

“Shut up, oh my god!” Seungmin literally jumps up and launches himself on Hyunjin, gaining a surprised screech from the older guy. But Seungmin doesn’t have any care in the world because Hyunjin was asking for it and wouldn’t shut up, so Seungmin would punish him with tickle attacks.

“No, not the tickles!” Hyunjin laughs, his hands trying to push Seungmin wandering fingers away from touching him but he’s clearly at a disadvantage with Seungmin pressing him down on the mattress. Hearing Hyunjin’s laughter makes Seungmin laugh as well because Hyunjin just has that kind of effect on Seungmin. “Ok, ok truce!”

“I’ll call it truce if you promise not to say things like that while we’re here,” Seungmin says. His hands are now resting on Hyunjin’s hip after straightening Hyunjin’s messy shirt (because of all the tickling happening). He’s rewarded with another one of Hyunjin’s pouts.

“Why though?”

“We’re going to be here for the whole week,” Seungmin starts. “Surrounded by your family members. We need to behave but it will be hard for me if you keep saying and doing things like that.”

“Hard?” Hyunjin leers. “I’ll gladly take care of it, babe.”

“Hyunjin!” Seungmin pinches Hyunjin’s side, just enough to startle the older guy without possibly hurting or bruising him. Hyunjin, being the dramatic king he is, of course exaggerated his reaction. He ain’t fooling Seungmin, though.

“Ok, ok, I’m sorry,” Hyunjin concedes but his hands are tracing down Seungmin’s back, legs now around Seungmin’s waist to lock him into place. “But I’m also kind of horny, honestly.”

_“Hyunjin!”_ Seungmin gasps in disbelief, trying to free himself but to no avail. Hyunjin only pulls Seungmin impossibly closer to him.

“Quickie?” he suggests with a smirk, his hands already slipping underneath Seungmin’s shirt so they’re touching skin to skin.

“We can’t-” Seungmin tries again but Hyunjin is also very persistent in what he wants.

“Pleaseeeee? If we're going on abstinence for the rest of the week, might as well do this for the last time now before the rest of the family members get here.” As much as Seungmin wants to resist, he knows he’s already lost when Hyunjin sucks the area where Seungmin’s pulse is on his neck, his eyes rolling closed and shivers travelling down his spine.

“You’re unbelievable,” Seungmin mutters, hand finding the buckle of Hyunjin’s belt to undo it and unzipping his jeans.

“Oh, but you love me, yeah?” Hyunjin teases. Seungmin feels Hyunjin’s lips on his ear, cheek, and neck, and Hyunjin’s hand on his lower back. It’s overwhelming but it’s a lie to say Seungmin doesn’t like it. Hyunjin is too smart and too persuasive for his own good, so Seungmin shuts him up with a kiss. Afterall, Seungmin is just a man; a weak man when it comes to a certain Hwang Hyunjin.

“Wait,” Seungmin abruptly pulls away from the kiss and Hyunjin takes this opportunity to push Seungmin to sit up so he can straddle the younger guy and sit on his lap. “We didn’t lock the door,” Seungmin says breathlessly. His arm finds its way around Hyunjin’s waist and it’s kind of crazy and embarrassing they’re in such a compromising position in Hyunjin’s dad’s house, with said dad only separated from them by the wooden door, but it’s also kind of... _thrilling._

“Honestly, who cares?” Hyunjin asks, also breathless from all the kissing and excitement.

“I do-” Seungmin doesn’t even get to finish the sentence, his words replaced by a surprised gasp when Hyunjin grinds down on him.

“No, you don’t,” Hyunjin smiles mischievously, eyelids fluttering closed and breaths warm on Seungmin's ear when he leans in as he grinds down again. "And it's no biggie. I'll make you come before someone walks in through that door," he whispers, catching Seungmin off guard.

"Fuck you," Seungmin curses. He can't believe Hyunjin is saying these things and they're doing this here, but it's even harder to believe (not really) that Seungmin is turned on by all of these.

"If you wish," Hyunjin snickers and then moans when Seungmin latches his mouth on Hyunjin's collarbone, his hips stuttering a little. "But- but I thought we agreed on a quickie for now?"

"I never agreed– oh, whatever," Seungmin gives up, hands grabbing the hem of Hyunjin's shirt to pull it off before pushing Hyunjin to lie back down on the bed. "You'll be the death of me," Seungmin says, but he lets Hyunjin's hands fumble with the buttons of his shirt, and then the zipper and button of Seungmin's jeans comes next.

"At least it'll be a sweet death?" The smile on Hyunjin's face is equal parts sweet and devilish and it drives Seungmin absolutely fucking crazy. Quickly, impatiently, Seungmin dips his hand under the waistband of Hyunjin's underwear the same time Hyunjin's hand slips under Seungmin's pants, their mouths meeting in a messy kiss, swallowing all the noises the other is making. After all, they’re _not_ alone in the house and Seungmin does not want anyone to hear them and possibly scarring the people for the rest of their lives.

Yeah, Seungmin supposes it would be a sweet death at least. But honestly, though? No complaints there at all.

3.

“Hyunjin.” The arms around Seungmin’s waist tightened considerably at Seungmin calling Hyunjin’s name, but other than that, there are no other forms of response coming from the older guy currently latching onto Seungmin like a lifeline. “I’m cooking,” Seungmin tries again, stirring the soup boiling in the pot.

“What are you cooking?” Hyunjin asks instead of letting go to let Seungmin cook in peace.

_“Kimchi-jjigae,”_ Seungmin answers anyway. “And I’m starting on the fish so we can have our dinner soon-ish.”

“Ok.”

“...I can’t cook if you’re latching onto me like this.”

“`Course you can.”

_“Babe.”_

“Shh. Let me have this, ok? Let me fill up my dose of Seungmin.”

Seungmin sighs, but he’s endeared more than anything. He can feel the edges of his lips curling up into a small smile. “Rough day at work?” he asks conversationally.

“Nah,” Hyunjin denies. “Just missed you,” he adds, pressing a soft kiss on the exposed skin of Seungmin’s shoulder. Seungmin feels the blush creeping up his neck to his face, feels the way his heartbeat picks up. It’s amusing _and_ embarrassing how Hyunjin still affects him even in the smallest ways, but perhaps neither of them really mind it. In fact, Hyunjin seems flattered in the obvious way he grins and giggles against the crook of Seungmin’s neck. “You’re so cute.”

“I’m not,” Seungmin grumbles grudgingly, which only makes Hyunjin laugh.

“Yes, you are,” Hyunjin insists. Seungmin huffs, but doesn't bother arguing with Hyunjin about it because there’s really no point as Hyunjin would gladly take all night and day convincing Seungmin on how cute he is if Seungmin even tries to deny further, so Seungmin decides to let it slide. Luckily, the stew seems to be cooked now, and Seungmin can use it to distract Hyunjin from possibly teasing Seungmin further.

“Do you want to have a taste?” Seungmin refers to the _kimchi-jjigae,_ hand reaching for a spoon on the counter after turning off the stove.

“What a kind offer,” Hyunjin says. “Yes, please.” And then there’s a mouth pressed on Seungmin’s cheek and tongue poking on the skin.

“Hyunjin!” Seungmin startles, his hand losing grip on the spoon and it clatters on the floor. Hyunjin’s arms around Seungmin tighten again, moving them a little away from the stove to avoid any unwanted accidents, although Hyunjin should have done this before pulling off his little antics. “I meant the stew.”

“Oh, I thought you were offering to taste your cuteness,” Hyunjin says casually, not even sounding sorry nor sheepish, which means he knew exactly what he was doing and had done it to Seungmin on purpose. "Tastes sweet, by the way."

“You’re ridiculous.”

“That’s a funny way to say lovable, babe,” Hyunjin grins before pressing kisses on Seungmin’s cheek. Seungmin whines half-heartedly, but he can’t help the way his body relaxes and leans heavier against Hyunjin.

“Suddenly, I’m tired and in need of filling up my dose of Hyunjin, too,” Seungmin sighs dramatically.

“You missed me, too. Cute,” Hyunjin teases. Seungmin has had enough and decides that two can play this game so he turns around to latch onto Hyunjin and presses him against the counter.

“Well, what ‘chu gon do about it?” Seungmin smirks at the look of bewilderment flashing in Hyunjin’s eyes, but it disappears as quickly as it comes and the next thing Seungmin knows, Hyunjin has his hands on the back of Seungmin’s thighs, effortlessly lifting the younger guy up that leaves Seungmin with no choice but to wrap his arms around Hyunjin’s neck to balance himself. 

"Gotta give him all the Hyunjin he needs then," Hyunjin answers. He settles Seungmin on the counter, one hand now on Seungmin's thigh while the other one on Seungmin's back. His breaths are warm and steady on Seungmin's neck, and Seungmin allows himself to relax completely again.

"What about dinner?" Seungmin murmurs into Hyunjin's shoulder. He's glad when Hyunjin responds with "Dinner can wait." because Seungmin honestly doesn't want to move yet now that they're holding each other like this. It's relaxing and healing after a long day of work, and although Seungmin usually waits until they're done with dinner and shower to cuddle up like this, he doesn't complain either when Hyunjin shows his affection to him during any time of the day.

"Of course I missed you, too," Seungmin lets Hyunjin know. Even though it's a belated reply, Hyunjin is very happy to hear it nonetheless, in the way he hugs Seungmin back and squeezes him.

They stay in that position for a while, breathing each other in and whispering sweet nothings, long enough for Seungmin to have to reheat the stew again later. Hyunjin helps him with preparing the rest of dinner, though, and they do the dishes together after the meal.

It was nice. Just another day at Hwang & Kim's household.

4.

“Jinnie, I don't think we're ready to become parents yet,” Seungmin says. He had wanted to sound stern not only to Hyunjin but to himself as well because he doesn’t want to be too hopeful only to be let down in the end, but Seungmin can hear the way his voice wavers the same way his resolve does. They were only meant to come here to visit and help, and not find a potential _child_ to adopt in the near future.

Seungmin shouldn't have let himself look at Hyunjin when there's no response from the older guy but by the time he realizes this, it's already too late. Seungmin finds himself looking at Hyunjin still sitting on the floor, who is showing his puppy eyes and pouting at Seungmin before raising up the puppy in his hand. "But baby, look at her!"

Seungmin's gaze shifts to the golden retriever puppy in Hyunjin's hands. Seungmin can feel his walls crumbling down seeing the puppy look at him with sparkly eyes, her tongue out and mouth shaped like a smile. Seungmin squeals, uncrosses his arms on his chest and sits down to get on eyelevel with the puppy. "Who's a good girl?" he says, rubbing the puppy's chin. In return, the puppy barks happily at Seungmin, wriggling her body to be let go. Hyunjin gently lets the puppy down onto the floor and she immediately jumps into Seungmin's lap, her tail wagging in excitement as she stands on her back paws to lean on Seungmin's chest. Seungmin carefully carries the puppy in his arms, heart melting when she leans her head on the crook of Seungmin's arm looking all cozy and comfortable. It's shower day for all the animals in the shelter that day, so when Seungmin nuzzles his nose on the top of the puppy's head, she smells fruity and clean like the pet shampoo donated to the facility.

When Seungmin was a kid, he'd always wanted to have a dog as a pet, but that dream was crushed almost instantly because his mom and siblings have allergies. He was always a little envious of his classmates who were raising pets at home, but as he got older, he became more accepting of the fact that he couldn't raise a pet as long as he lived with his family, so he compromised with himself to adopt a pet once he lived alone.

This plan didn't go well, of course. When Seungmin was in college, he'd lived in an apartment shared with 3 other people (who became his close friends even up to this day). It wasn't that his housemates hated pets (they all love animals, much to Seungmin's delight)– he simply couldn't raise one, because he had no time for himself, let alone for a pet, and definitely not enough money.

Seungmin felt a little discouraged after that, and when he and Hyunjin got married, settled down in their new apartment which just happened to have no pet policy, Seungmin had taken it as a sign that it was never meant to be. They were both busy with building their careers after the wedding, so raising a pet was out of the question. Seungmin told himself not to think about it ever again, told himself not to be too hopeful lest he ends up disappointed again but now that they're here at the animal shelter for volunteer work with the rest of Hyunjin's work department, holding the precious puppy in his arms like this, Seungmin finds hope and want blooming in his chest again.

“Baby,” Seungmin lifts his gaze up to Hyunjin already looking at him with a knowing smile. It was Hyunjin who had brought it up first when they were assigned to feed the dogs and saw the group of puppies in one large cage, exclaiming excitedly about how cute the puppies are and that they should definitely adopt one. While Seungmin does not know if Hyunjin had meant it, Seungmin finds himself wanting it to be true despite being unsure about the whole idea earlier on. “She’s so perfect.”

“I know she is,” Hyunjin agrees. “She seems to like you, too,” he says, making Seungmin look down at the puppy again. She has her eyes closed now and Seungmin coos at the cute sight. When Hyunjin reaches out his hand, Seungmin had thought he wanted to touch the puppy, but he feels it on his head instead, feels Hyunjin ruffling his hair. “You know we can actually adopt her, right?” Seungmin snaps his head up at this, unsure if Hyunjin means what Seungmin thinks he meant. “Our apartment is big enough for another resident,” he looks at the puppy pointedly. “And there’s no more no pet policy. We have stable jobs and income now so I think we’re good to adopt a pet.”

Seungmin understands it then- Hyunjin is doing this for Seungmin. He had invited Seungmin to tag along to meet the animals at the shelter, had specifically chosen this golden retriever because he probably saw Seungmin making heart eyes at her earlier on. He’s bringing up this pet adoption because he _knew_ Seungmin would want it, but also knew Seungmin wouldn’t be the first one to initiate speaking up for reasons Hyunjin would never know. Seungmin is touched and so thankful for this man.

“Really?” Seungmin manages to ask, a smile on his face. “You wouldn’t mind raising a pet?”

“Of course not,” Hyunjin laughs and waves him off with his hand. But then, the laughter abruptly stops as he seems to think of something. “Wait, you won’t love me any less if we adopt her, right?”

_This_ makes Seungmin laugh because of course Hyunjin would come up with such silly things. “Never,” Seungmin says. “If anything, this only makes me love you even more.”

“Well then I better ask for more information from the administration on the adoption process!” Hyunjin jumps up.

“Hyunjin, wait,” Seungmin stops Hyunjin by grabbing onto his hand.

“Hmm?”

“Do- do you really want this?” Seungmin refers to the pet adoption. Hyunjin sits on his heels and boops Seungmin’s nose with his finger.

“I want you to be happy. _Happier_. If this makes you happy, then yes, I want it,” Hyunjin assures with a smile. “We can come here to the shelter and spend more time with her first to see if she’s compatible with us. I already know she’s going to be a great companion for us though, but it’s part of the procedures apparently. I’ll ask more of it again.”

“Ok,” Seungmin says and squeezes Hyunjin’s hand. “Thank you, really. You’re the best.”

“I know,” Hyunjin winks. “Be right back.” And then he’s up and off to presumably find the owner of the shelter, so Seungmin brings his attention back to the puppy. It hasn’t sunk in Seungmin’s head yet that he’s _finally_ getting a pet, and nothing is finalized yet as of now, but Seungmin is happy nonetheless, is happy at the thought of this sweet little puppy being theirs in the near future. Perhaps, when she _does_ become theirs, Seungmin will probably shed a few tears then, but for now he’ll enjoy this little moment with the puppy.

“Should I call you baby?” Seungmin asks the puppy and he almost jumps in surprise when there’s a loud “No!” coming from behind him. Seungmin turns to look and realizes Hyunjin has not gone far because the owner of the shelter is in the same area and they’re apparently having the discussion there. “How did you even hear that?” Seungmin asks in amusement.

Hyunjin crosses his arms on his chest petulantly and instead of answering, he says _“I’m_ baby.”

There’s muffled laughter all around them, while the owner of the shelter beside Hyunjin is having a hard time keeping a straight face on. Seungmin feels slightly embarrassed but Hyunjin has no shame at all. “Ok,” Seungmin says. “You’re Big Baby.” Someone bursts out laughing but is shushed immediately by someone else. Hyunjin’s colleagues and the other volunteers are not being subtle about hearing on the conversation at this point, obviously entertained by their talk so Seungmin supposes he’ll keep them entertained for some more. “And she shall be Tiny Baby.”

“Oh yeah? Then what does that make you?”

“Me?” Seungmin grins, hand stroking the puppy’s head. _“Your_ baby.”

There’s a mix of laughter and cooing going on around them at Seungmin’s answer. Seungmin feels himself flushed a little but doesn’t get rid of the grin on his face. Hyunjin groans and lets his arms fall on his side as he marches towards Seungmin.

“Stop being so cute,” Hyunjin says and the next thing Seungmin knows, there’s a pair of lips pressed on his.

  
  
  
  


(They do end up adopting the puppy a few weeks later, and no, they did not name her Baby. Hyunjin insists on calling her Luna instead, which Seungmin thinks is a pretty name for a pretty baby.

“Wait a minute,” Seungmin stops washing his face one night and peeks his head out to their bedroom as something clicks in his head.

“What?” Hyunjin asks from the bed, eyes on his ipad.

“Did you name our baby after your favorite drama?”

Hyunjin’s laughter is enough of an answer to Seungmin’s suspicion.)

5.

When Seungmin blinks his eyes open, he’s greeted by the red numbers on the digital clock on the nightstand. It says a quarter past 3 in the morning.

There’s a slight confusion on why he’s startled awake at this time of the morning- he’s usually able to sleep through the night without waking up until his alarm clock starts blaring. When he turns to lean on his back though, he thinks he finally knows _why._

The space on the bed next to him is cold and empty. When Seungmin realizes _why_ it’s cold and empty, why his face feels gross with dried tears, his chest becomes tight and heavy with dread.

Seungmin can feel his eyes watering again but he ignores it as best as he can and lifts his body up from the mattress to sit on the edge of the bed. The floor is cold when his feet touch the ground, head heavy and aching from crying and lack of sleep. He ignores this as well, getting up from the bed to walk out of the bedroom.

The rest of the house is as dark as the bedroom, but there's flickering lights coming from the television in the living room. Seungmin pads quietly towards where the lights are, and the closer he gets, the more he can hear the small sound coming from the living room as well. Seungmin stands at the end of the hallway leading to the open space where the living room and kitchen are, his eyes scanning the dark place. When he finds no one, his eyes zero in on the clip playing on the television.

He recognizes the video immediately. Although the volume of the video is small, Seungmin can clearly hear the voice from memory alone. The tears swell in his eyes, and Seungmin uses the back of his hand to wipe the tears off from his face when they trickle down his cheeks. Sniffling and moving to the couch, Seungmin takes a seat in the middle and hugs his knees to his chest.

On the screen, Hyunjin is seen getting up from their table to move to the middle of the dance floor for a surprise performance that he had prepared for Seungmin. Hyunjin looked nervous, but the smile on his face was wide, happy, sure. The first thing he said when they handed him the mic is: _Hi, Seungmin. I love you._ The crowd cheered and cooed at them, while Seungmin was blushing with a silly grin on his face when the camera zoomed in on him. _These songs are for you– my best friend, the love of my life, my other half whom I can proudly call my husband now,_ he continued, voice wavering with emotions a little. Hyunjin cleared his throat and added _Now I may not be Wonpil and sadly not a great singer like him as well,_ making both Seungmin laugh, _but I want to show you my feelings through a song. You know my heart, right? Umm. Ok, I hope I won't butcher this song,_ he ended the speech, making the crowd laugh again. Hyunjin nodded his head at Jeongin who was sitting at the grand piano, signalling the younger guy to start playing a song on it.

Hearing the music instrumental to _Lee Juck’s I’m Fortunate,_ Seungmin’s heart flutters again the same way it did on their wedding day where he first heard Hyunjin singing it. Hyunjin’s voice started off shaky, but it got steadier and steadier with each note, Hyunjin gaining confidence especially when his gaze met Seungmin’s. Hyunjin may not be a professional singer, and his voice isn’t as husky and deep as the original singer is, but he hits the notes well and has a pleasant voice- one that Seungmin is sure he will never get tired of hearing.

The Hyunjin and Seungmin on screen looked at each other with so much love and adoration in their eyes, looked at each other like they were the only ones present there. Seungmin remembers, _knows_ that he teared up because he was touched by the song and Hyunjin’s effort in learning how to sing the song for Seungmin. By the time Hyunjin ended the song, Seungmin was dabbing tissue on the corner of his eyes to dry the tears. But it proved to be useless because then Minho, Jisung, Changbin and Felix joined Hyunjin and Jeongin to perform a gorgeous acoustic rendition of _Day6’s Beautiful Feeling,_ and the tears just kept on flowing.

Watching this is making Seungmin reflect back to his relationship with Hyunjin. It’s not always easy, _marriage_ is not always easy. Sometimes they’re happy and lovey-dovey with each other, sometimes they fight but make up quite fast. Sometimes, though, they have a huge fight and don’t talk to each other until they’re cooled down completely. It doesn’t happen often, because neither of them can stand being apart and angry with each other for too long, but when it does happen, it’s always hard to be the one to back down first when their pride gets in their way in the midst of the fight.

Seungmin is always left with an empty feeling after the fights, guilt and shame heavy on his chest. He tells himself to be better next time, to avoid the fight as much as he can, but it’s hard to think straight when you’re so full of anger and frustration that he and Hyunjin end up arguing. It’s not healthy but both of them are trying hard to improve on it.

Seungmin remembers the vows exchanged between him and Hyunjin. To be together through thick and thin, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish. It’s not always easy for them, but they always manage to pull through. Seungmin knows they will this time, too, and the first thing they need to do is _talk._

“Hey,” Hyunjin’s scratchy voice snaps Seungmin out of his thoughts with a sharp gasp. Seungmin looks up at Hyunjin standing near the couch, watches as he clears the lump down his throat, as he takes off his hat and uses his hand to comb back his messy hair before taking a tentative seat next to Seungmin. He looks so sullen, eyes red and lower lip swollen probably from being bitten too much. Seungmin feels his own heart drops at this. Fights were never good for them, and yet they still manage to disappoint each other like this. It’s equal parts frustrating and shameful. “I was watching the video but needed to clear my mind a little bit so I went to take a quick walk,” Hyunjin informs just to fill in the silence. Seungmin nods his head in acknowledgement. Seungmin was probably so lost in his thoughts that he hadn’t heard when Hyunjin came back.

“Are you ok?” they both ask at the same time. They both still, and then offer a small, sad smile.

“Do you want to talk?” Hyunjin asks again. Seungmin exhales deeply and then nods his head. He turns around and crosses his legs on the couch to face Hyunjin, and Hyunjin mirrors his action. When Hyunijn lays his hands out on his knees, Seungmin is quick to reach out and hold them. There’s a moment of silence where they both seem to try to gather their thoughts first before talking. In the end, it’s Hyunjin who speaks up first.

"I hate it when we fight," Hyunjin starts. "I hate it when our minds are clouded by anger and we say things we don't mean to each other."

"I know," Seungmin agrees because he feels the same. "I didn't mean to raise my voice at you. Every excuse of why I did it will only sound like, well, excuses. I don't have a reason to yell at you. I'm sorry."

"Baby, I handled this all poorly, too," Hyunjin rubs his thumb on Seungmin's hand. "I'm sorry, too. I'm not proud of what I said back there," Hyunjin swallows thickly and wills the tears away. "You're tired, I'm tired. We're both _tired."_

"Yeah," Seungmin agrees again. "Work is kicking me in the ass lately. The client is hard to please and we've reached a dead end. I'm just. Tired and don't know what else to do."

"Sorry to hear that," Hyunjin sympathizes. "I should have listened to you instead of getting annoyed. Guess I became a self-centered asshole right there," he chuckles bitterly in regret. "Our project at work is giving us a lot of stress too, but it was wrong of me to demand for comfort when you're already so distraught and in need of comfort too."

"God, we're so stupid," Seungmin smiles. How could they fight over something so trivial like this, over something that could easily be resolved? "This could have been avoided if we just confided in each other. I guess we didn't want to burden each other with our work problem, huh?"

“Yeah,” Hyunjin murmurs. “But look where it brought us? We didn't want to worry each other, shut ourselves off and end up arguing like this. We can't expect to just understand each other without saying anything, can’t expect to _know_ when we’re upset and stressed and want comfort.”

“I know,” Seungmin lets go of Hyunjin’s hands so he can lean forward and give Hyunjin a hug. Hyunjin hugs him back. “Let this be another lesson for us, yeah? Let this be the last time, if possible.”

Hyunjin pulls away to show his pinky at Seungmin. “Promise?” 

“Promise,” Seungmin chuckles and joins his pinky with Hyunjin’s to seal the promise. “Next time, let’s be rational, yeah? Calm down and listen first.”

“Ok,” Hyunjin nods. “I’m so sorry.”

“I’m sorry too, babe,” Seungmin says remorsefully, pulling Hyunjin’s hand and pressing a kiss on his knuckles. Hyunjin smiles at Seungmin’s gesture and moves closer to curl on Seungmin’s side, resting his head on Seungmin’s shoulders and curling his arms around Seungmin’s arm. Seungmin wonders if Hyunjin managed to get some sleep before this, then realizes Hyunjin has gotten used to sleeping next to Seungmin and that he probably couldn’t sleep a wink after their fight. It shows in the way his body is heavy with exhaustion, eyes lidded as they watch their wedding video playing on the television. Seungmin feels bad and offers his comfort in the press of his lips on the crown of Hyunjin’s head before leaning his head against it and hand reaching for Hyunjin’s to intertwine their fingers together. Comments are made here and there as they reminisce their wedding together, fond smiles and stolen kisses in between the silence. Hyunjin falls asleep like that, face calm and devoid of stress. Hyunjin is always beautiful in Seungmin’s eyes, but in that moment, he looks ethereal. Seungmin wraps protective arms around Hyunjin. Hyunjin is his haven, and Seungmin wants to be one for Hyunjin, too.

There’s still a lot of things for them to learn as married couples, compromises to make, sacrifices and reasons to understand. It won’t always be easy because marriage is not easy. Nothing in life worth fighting for is easy. Sometimes the sun will shine, sometimes it will rain. Obstacles are a part of life and mistakes are inevitably made. It doesn’t define who you are, though, the mistakes you make; it’s the way you handle them that does.

Seungmin knows he and Hyunjin will learn from this, will improve and grow from their mistakes to be a better version of themselves, not for their own sake but for their partner as well. It won’t always be easy but it will always be worthwhile.

Seungmin falls asleep to these thoughts in his head and the hope for more better and happier days ahead of them.

**Author's Note:**

> Comments and kudos are very much welcomed and appreciated <3


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